TearLab

TearLab – diagnosing dry eye disease    

The first step to diagnosing dry eye disease is a comprehensive eye exam to rule out any other ocular surface diseases and to assess dry eye symptoms. If they determine you may have dry eye disease, the doctors will use advanced diagnostic technology to properly diagnose it. One of the methods they use is the TearLab Osmolarity System.  

TearLab® Osmolarity System 

Your tears should contain the proper amount of salt. An objective measurement of the salt concentration in tears is called osmolarity. Abnormal tear osmolarity is a key feature of dry eye disease. Our doctors use the TearLab Osmolarity System to measure the osmolarity of human tears to aid in the diagnosis of dry eye disease.  

How it works 

The TearLab Osmolarity Test Card, in conjunction with the TearLab Osmolarity System, provides a quick and simple method for determining tear osmolarity using nanoliter (nL) volumes of tear fluid collected directly from the eyelid margin. The Test Card is held by the Osmolarity Test Pen for safe collection. 

The TearLab Osmolarity Test utilizes a temperature-corrected impedance measurement to provide an indirect assessment of osmolarity. After applying a lot-specific calibration curve, osmolarity is calculated and displayed as a quantitative numerical value. 

What to expect   

The TearLab Osmolarity Test takes less than a minute. To collect a sample of your tears, our eye doctor will gently place a small test card held by the osmolarity test pen in the corner of each one of your eyes on the inner lower lid margin. They will then insert the sample into the device to measure the osmolarity of your tears.  

TearLab has a positive predictive value of 89%. Positive predictive value is the probability that subjects with a positive test truly have the disease.